Opening Films

by Inlander Staff & r & & r & Miami Vice -- TV's Crockett and Tubbs, now played by Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, jump to the big screen. They're still undercover detectives, but more business associates than friends. And Crockett's pastel wardrobe has turned dark and monochromatic. This is about a big-time drug operation they're trying to infiltrate, as well as about the women in their lives, one of whom is the lady friend of a global drug lord. Most of this is build-up toward payoff, but the latter is only in the last 20 minutes. Thick accents and grainy photography get in the way. Seek out the TV reruns instead. (ES) Rated R





A Scanner Darkly -- Science fiction owes a lot to Philip K. Dick: Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall, Paycheck. (Granted, not all of them were gems.) A Scanner Darkly, adapted and directed by Richard Linklater, is another stylized look into Dick's paranoid imagination. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is an near-future undercover drug agent investigating his friends while addicted to a nasty drug called Substance D. Animated in the same manner as Waking Life, Scanner promises to be an excellent trip all its own. Rated R





Scoop -- Woody Allen's wacky new comedy-romance-murder-mystery (now there's a mouthful) unfolds in London, where the ghost of a dead journalist (Ian McCone) tries to help a living journalism student (Scarlet Johansson) solve a murder case from somewhere in the afterlife. She enlists the help of a patter-crazy American magician (Allen) who would rather do card tricks for rich British wankers. Allen, McCone and number one suspect Hugh Jackman are terrific. Johansson, though, doesn't have the chops for this kind of comedy; she's in over her head. (ES) Rated PG-13





The Ant Bully -- What is this film about? Well, apparently an ant. And a mean one. Apparently, some kid gets shrunken, lives with ants and helps them in their struggle against wasps. Apparently Tom Hanks thought it was a good idea. Rated PG





John Tucker Must Die -- Homeboy's a star baller at his high school, and a freak naughty four-timing womanizer. Hot. But when his ladies happen to bump into each other and trade notes, well, that's when the film's title gains significance. Rated PG-13





Word Play -- A biography of Will Shortz, the editor of The New York Times (ridiculously hard) crossword puzzle. It begins narrowly, but expands to touch on a surprisingly broad crossword culture. This is the kind of film we like to see. Rated PG